Sunday, May 11, 2014

Really Big Quilts

Really big quilts with
really big empty spaces need really big motifs! The funky feathers in
the corners of this quilt (I borrowed this design from Karen
Marchetti – it's only stealing if you don't give credit!) are 18
inches tall! I think they look like rooster tails, so that's what I'm
going to call them. Quilted in three different colors, this design
gives the massive black space some much needed character.

The black thread
background quilting is what Karen McTavish calls clam shelling, a
form of her McTavishing filler that she's not really fond of. She
thinks it looks too congested. But, when it is done large, it is much
better than meandering! And, the wool batting gives this clam
shelling more dimension than you would get with a simpler meander and
a flatter batting.

For the rooster tail
feathers that go on top of the paper-pieced diamonds of each cube, I
chose a gold Glide thread called Cleopatra. I have found the best
thread color for multiple fabric colors is a gold. It's not really
metallic, but the Glide thread has a nice sheen to it so it looks
almost metallic. And, the gold color does not clash with any of the
rainbow array of fabric colors.

My customer hand-dyed just
about every piece of fabric for this quilt. Careful placement of
colors gives the cubes the 3-D effect they need. I'm very impressed, aren't you?!

Sorry I didn't get a picture of the full piece. It's too large to get up on my design wall!